Sugar company to sell Everglades land to state

U.S. Sugar Corp., the nation's largest producer of cane sugar, has agreed to sell its nearly 300 square miles of farmland to the state of Florida for Everglades restoration.

The Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – U.S. Sugar Corp., the nation's largest producer of cane sugar, has agreed to sell its nearly 300 square miles of farmland to the state of Florida for Everglades restoration.

The deal must still be approved by the boards of U.S. Sugar and the South Florida Water Management District.

Under the proposal, the state would buy 180,000 acres from U.S. Sugar for $1.34 billion. U.S. Sugar would keep its mill, railroad lines and citrus processing plant, along with the 7,000 acres the properties are on.

U.S. Sugar would be allowed to lease back the farmland at $50 per acre annually for seven years before turning it over to the state.

Officials hope to use the land to help clean water and restore natural flow to the Everglades, long polluted by farming and development.

Michael Sole, head of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, called the deal "one of the most important opportunities to protect the Everglades ecosystem."

While it remains unclear how much of the land will go toward restoration, Sole said it will be a "significant amount." Some of the land will remain in agriculture.

U.S. Sugar's board was set to vote on the contract on Dec. 8. The water board then has until Dec. 16 to sign the contract or the deal is void. The deal also falls through if the district can't secure financing by September 2009, when the money is due.

The proposal to buy the land was first announced in June by Gov. Charlie Crist, who called it "as monumental as the creation of our nation's first national park."

The initial announcement called for the state to pay $1.75 billion for all of U.S. Sugar's land and assets. The new deal would be just for the company's land, leaving it the option to stay in business with its mill and other properties after the seven-year deadline.

The haste to approve the deal was prompted, in part, by a Tennessee-based farming company's informal offer to shareholders last week to buy U.S. Sugar for $300 per share — or nearly $600 million.

A spokesman for The Lawrence Group said Tuesday that a formal offer was being prepared. The company claims its offer is a better deal for U.S. Sugar shareholders because they would get their money now instead of having to wait until 2016 when the lease for the land expires.

It would be the third bid by Lawrence to acquire U.S. Sugar. Previous bids were rejected by U.S. Sugar's board without employee shareholder knowledge, prompting a lawsuit against the company.

Under the potential offer from Lawrence, much of the land would likely remain in agriculture, leaving less for Everglades restoration, though the company hasn't said how much.

Many in surrounding communities, including U.S. Sugar employees, have worried that the retirement of farmland and the closure of U.S. Sugar could mean economic disaster for the local economy. The company employs about 1,700 workers.

U.S. Sugar Vice President Robert Coker said he was optimistic his board would approve the state deal.

Employee shareholders, meanwhile, had a wait-and-see attitude.

"Right now it's just confusion," said Greg Thompson, head of the local sugar union.

Under the proposed state deal, U.S. Sugar would pay the water district $21.5 million for cleaning up contaminants on the land. The state can also take up 13,000 acres within the first year for restoration projects and for local governments, and up to 30,000 acres in the sixth year of the contract.

Many environmentalists have lauded the deal as a grand opportunity to remove some farming operations and start restoring the Everglades. However, regardless of this deal, some 300,000 acres in the region, or about 500 square miles, will remain in agriculture production by other companies.

"It's critical that everyone not lose sight of the original purpose of this initiative," said Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation. "If we don't acquire the land necessary for Everglades restoration today, our ecosystem collapses, the water supply continues to diminish and Florida will spend billions more in the future to pay for this mistake."

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